No, one of the commenters got it right. Its there because the ice machine got too full and they needed to dump the excess ice. They can't put it in sinks because you have to use the sinks, and they can't put it in the toilets because someone would try to flush it and clog the thing. You put it in the urinal because thats the only place left short of tossing it out the back door. Anything else it might do are just side benefits. If this were not the case, you would see ice in *EVERY* urinal, not just one or two of them at a time.

And yes, you have to keep ice machines partially empty, otherwise it freezes up into a solid block.

i have seen ice in the horse trough thing before. meh, if i'm pissing in a horse trough thing, i prefer if there's ice. prevents splash back, and i don't particularly enjoy staring at pooling pee. and, it's satisfying to watch the ice melt. like i can actually destroy something in the real world.

First of all: Guys, we weren't born in barns, can we please flush so we don't have to PRETEND we're all humans and get embarassed when ladies hear about our dirty little secrets?

Second of all: Please don't write articles ladies are going to see about our dirty little secrets. It makes them have thoughts like "No one in my house is allowed to pee standing up," and it ruins the ease of urination for us all.

Sir_Farkalot:First of all: Guys, we weren't born in barns, can we please flush so we don't have to PRETEND we're all humans and get embarassed when ladies hear about our dirty little secrets?

Second of all: Please don't write articles ladies are going to see about our dirty little secrets. It makes them have thoughts like "No one in my house is allowed to pee standing up," and it ruins the ease of urination for us all.

The best part about being a man is you can make your own decision on how to urinate.

puckrock2000:offmymeds: I once saw this message scrawled above a urinal: "Please don't put your cigarette butts in the urinal. It makes them harder to relight."

And of course there's the old favorite, written high on the wall above the urinal, "If you can read this, you're pissing on your shoes."

My favorite:

"If you can piss above this line, the volunteer fire department would like to talk to you."

Also: it was common for roadhouses in the South to have, as a urinal, a simple trough - usually made by cutting a water heater tank in half lengthwise - with a few blocks of ice in it. Ice cubes was for the up-town folks.

Some bar owners say it works even better than urinal cakes because it actually flushes the urine instead of just trying to deodorize it.

Yep. First saw this at the brewery I worked at. I thought maybe my boss was getting rid of ice(Glass gets broken in the ice machine, and you suddenly have to dump hundreds of pounds of ice), but then I realized that was all of the ice he dumped, and he only did it on the really busy nights. Worked like a charm. Not only does it melt and flush, but it's more of a barrier to get through. With a urinal cake, it just kind of sits there next to the urine, so as a result, it smells like piss AND urinal cakes. The ice is like having a million little P-traps in the urinal, plus the other factors mentioned. Lasts a lot longer than you'd think, too.

Benevolent Misanthrope:Because guys are disgusting pigs who would rather wallow in urine than expend the effort to flush?

While I'm not arguing the "disgusting pig" bit, flushing #1 can be considered wasteful of resources in areas with poor plumbing or when moderate-to-heavy drinking is involved and the urine is mostly water anyway.

Lor M. Ipsum:Benevolent Misanthrope: Because guys are disgusting pigs who would rather wallow in urine than expend the effort to flush?

While I'm not arguing the "disgusting pig" bit, flushing #1 can be considered wasteful of resources in areas with poor plumbing or when moderate-to-heavy drinking is involved and the urine is mostly water anyway.

That would involve touching something in the restroom. Nice thing about being a guy, you don't have to touch a single thing besides yourself.

This is why you often see a sink running in the restroom. What's the point in washing your hands, then touching the disgusting handle and then dirty town dispenser?

teylix:If you think a guy's bathroom is bad, I'd hate to see your reaction to a woman's bathroom.

/holy crap

That.When I was in the military and living in the barracks back when barracks had community latrines and showers, I was told by a few female friends that the women's latrines were typically worse than the men's latrines that they'd seen. Partly because women are more likely to attempt the hover technique and fail and then not bother to clean up after themselves.

Dwindle:Lor M. Ipsum: Benevolent Misanthrope: Because guys are disgusting pigs who would rather wallow in urine than expend the effort to flush?

While I'm not arguing the "disgusting pig" bit, flushing #1 can be considered wasteful of resources in areas with poor plumbing or when moderate-to-heavy drinking is involved and the urine is mostly water anyway.

That would involve touching something in the restroom. Nice thing about being a guy, you don't have to touch a single thing besides yourself.

This is why you often see a sink running in the restroom. What's the point in washing your hands, then touching the disgusting handle and then dirty town dispenser?

I just use the patented kick method. If I can't flush it with my shoe, it won't be flushed.